Three killed in Sydney ferry collision

A passenger ferry collided with a pleasure boat under Sydney’s iconic harbour bridge today, killing three people and injuring eight others, officials and witnesses said.

The ferry ploughed over the smaller boat, throwing its passengers into the water in the collision, which occurred about 10:45pm (12.45pm Irish time), said witness Clive Marshall, who was on another ferry passing nearby.

“The boat basically just disintegrated,” Marshall said.

“There were a couple of people hanging on to the wreckage. We had people in the water and bits of boat and the boat sinking and people screaming for their missing friends.”

Ferry crew leaped into the water to help the victims, and police rescue helicopters used a spotlight to help locate the injured.

New South Wales state ambulance service spokesman Neil Hargreaves said three people were killed and eight were injured.

The ferry was returning to its berth at the time of the crash and had no passengers aboard, Australian Associated Press reported.

Dozens of ferries and hundreds of other boats use Sydney harbour every day, including navy vessels, cruise liners and container ships.

Collisions occur periodically, occasionally causing deaths.

The deadliest crash was in 1927, when a mail steamer collided with a ferry, sinking the ferry and killing 40 people.